Feeding Wild Birds

[2 Acres]

I live on the East coast, New Jersey to be specific. I have lived in the same home for 54 years and have fed the wild birds that entire time. This year populations are at an all time low. I would guess somewhere around 20 % of what normally feed here and at a wildlife club where I also feed. I was wondering if anyone else has noted a similar decrease in wild bird populations. I know that West Nile hit here fairly hard last year. Perhaps that is what caused the reduction ?

You are forgetting the H5N1 virus.

 

[alinas2010]

Is something wrong with this dove? Why is it moving its neck all weird? Can you see what I am talking about? I found a dead one in the back yard just now. I hope something isn’t wrong with the local population. Maybe it has hiccups?

 

[TwoCrows]

Is something wrong with this dove? Why is it moving its neck all weird? Can you see what I am talking about? I found a dead one in the back yard just now. I hope something isn’t wrong with the local population. Maybe it has hiccups?

Chickens can snake their heads around when they have crop yeast infections. It almost looks like a spasm or nervous tick in the muscles too. Doves can contract West Nile from mosquitos but generally don't die from it. However they can develop head tremors and weakness from West Nile. Not sure if this is a tremor through. I looks to me like it's adjusting its crop or has something in the crop it's trying to settle.

 

[Gill-b]

Is something wrong with this dove? Why is it moving its neck all weird? Can you see what I am talking about? I found a dead one in the back yard just now. I hope something isn’t wrong with the local population. Maybe it has hiccups?

This is going to sound silly, I know, but I am going to throw it out there anyways because it could be a possibility...

I can hear Emergency Service sirens blaring in the background on your video. These types of noises have been known to start pigeons and doves to coo. Is it possible that this dove is very eager to eat but it is also, at the same time, responding to the call of the sirens?

If I listen really closely I think I am making out the dove cooing but the sound of the wind hitting the microphone is blocking most of it out? [You have to listen very carefully for the coo, but I think it is there.]

So maybe what we are seeing is indecisiveness of the dove between cooing and satisfying its hunger?

[Just an FYI before you think I may be totally insane for suggesting this above theory... I grew up with my parents keeping pigeons; and I have hand reared a lot of doves, so I do have some experience in dove mannerisms.]

 

[Gill-b]

I looks to me like it's adjusting its crop or has something in the crop it's trying to settle.

It looks the same to me too.

 

[TwoCrows]

I am FINALLY down to 1 Hummingbird feeder with 3 Hummers hanging around! 1 adult male Rufus, 1 adult female Black Chinned and 1 juvenile female Rufus.

 

[alinas2010]

This is going to sound silly, I know, but I am going to throw it out there anyways because it could be a possibility...

I can hear Emergency Service sirens blaring in the background on your video. These types of noises have been known to start pigeons and doves to coo. Is it possible that this dove is very eager to eat but it is also, at the same time, responding to the call of the sirens?

If I listen really closely I think I am making out the dove cooing but the sound of the wind hitting the microphone is blocking most of it out? [You have to listen very carefully for the coo, but I think it is there.]

So maybe what we are seeing is indecisiveness of the dove between cooing and satisfying its hunger?

[Just an FYI before you think I may be totally insane for suggesting this above theory... I grew up with my parents keeping pigeons; and I have hand reared a lot of doves, so I do have some experience in dove mannerisms.]

It’s funny you say that bc when I googled “dove moving neck weird” or something like that it did bring up that this is what doves do when they are cooing, so I thought maybe it was possible, but I just couldn’t hear very clearly.

Chickens can snake their heads around when they have crop yeast infections. It almost looks like a spasm or nervous tick in the muscles too. Doves can contract West Nile from mosquitos but generally don't die from it. However they can develop head tremors and weakness from West Nile. Not sure if this is a tremor through. I looks to me like it's adjusting its crop or has something in the crop it's trying to settle.

This was super informative, I didn’t know that west Nile could lead to those things thank you for sharing! It was such a strange repetitive movement I just wasn’t sure. Then with the wind blowing it was even harder to tell.

Thanks for taking a look. I appreciate the input. It freaked me out to find a dead one right after this. I hope it’s nothing to worry about.

 

[Gill-b]

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So much has happened in the lives of the Mostards in the past 24 hours that you might need to have a cup of tea (or coffee) handy for this long read.

My chronical starts yesterday afternoon while looking out my window at the birds splashing about in the bird-bath and I see a small Cape Sparrow in the tree above. I then realized that one of Mr and Mrs Mostard’s chicks had just fledged, which took me by surprise as I had assumed that their chicks were less than one week old, and it takes around 14 to 17 days after hatching for a Cape Sparrow to fledge.

I continued to watch as Mr and Mrs Mostard flew back-and-forth, feeding the little one. I then came to the conclusion that there must only be one chick as the Mostards did not return to their nest nor could I see any other fledgling; the parents were concentrating all their feeding efforts on just this one.

We have two thorn trees growing side-by-side at the front of our property and, as the afternoon progressed, the fledgling awkwardly moved about in and between these two trees. When the sun started to set, Mr and Mrs Mostard hastily flew to-and-fro between the tree with their nest in it and the two trees at the front, trying to convince their little one to return to the shelter of the nest, but the fledgling would not go back. Eventually the parents gave up and flew off, leaving the little one in a part of a tree that I have known a cat to get to; at the end of one of the main branches which has less thorns and is thick enough for a cat to walk on.

[As I am typing this, something has occurred, but I need to continue this story before I can go into what it is.]

So, I made a (perhaps marginally immoral?) decision to do some minor intervention by driving the fledgling into higher branches that are thinner in diameter and denser with thorns. It only took my close proximity to the tree to do this and was over very quickly. I checked on the fledgling twice during the night and listened for any possible dog barking at one of the eight cats that live directly neighbouring our house and may be lurking. I was also concerned with how the fledgling would handle the temperature dropping in the very early morning, being away from shelter and out exposed on its own. The temperature eased to 8 degrees Celsius (about 46 degrees Fahrenheit).

At six o’clock in the morning, at first light, the fledgling was still in the same spot in the tree, and between that time and sunrise, which was at half-past six, the parents showed up. The little one was slow to move and seemed stiff, but had survived the night with all its terrors. I put food out in the bird feeder and the parents happily tucked into breakfast. I could relax knowing that all was well… then a hawk swooped in and gone was the fledgling. I. kid. you. not.

I have very mixed feelings about this event. Living in the suburbs, it is very rare to witness such an occurrence. I am excited to have seen a hawk… in my own yard… so close. And unlike when a domesticated cat kills a bird for sport, this is absolute nature at work… at its essence. On the other hand, I listened for two hours to the Sparrow parents continuously calling out for their missing only little one. I twice looked all around my garden and at the base of all our thorn trees in hopes that I may find the fledgling, but to no avail. After watching all their work to build their nest, and my not mowing my lawn for weeks so as not to disturb them… I feel invested… and it saddens me to think that in a flash of raptor wings it was taken away… or was it?

Now let me get back to that occurrence which I mentioned happened while typing out the end of the fourth paragraph. Mr and Mrs Mostard made a big ruckus, the kind they make when something excites them, like for example when they are being territorial and chasing off intruders. I stopped typing and took a look outside… and there is a fledgling... back in the tree. I. kid. you. not.


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Mr Mostart taken from almost directly below.

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[TwoCrows]

View media item 7973412

So much has happened in the lives of the Mostards in the past 24 hours that you might need to have a cup of tea (or coffee) handy for this long read.

My chronical starts yesterday afternoon while looking out my window at the birds splashing about in the bird-bath and I see a small Cape Sparrow in the tree above. I then realized that one of Mr and Mrs Mostard’s chicks had just fledged, which took me by surprise as I had assumed that their chicks were less than one week old, and it takes around 14 to 17 days after hatching for a Cape Sparrow to fledge.

I continued to watch as Mr and Mrs Mostard flew back-and-forth, feeding the little one. I then came to the conclusion that there must only be one chick as the Mostards did not return to their nest nor could I see any other fledgling; the parents were concentrating all their feeding efforts on just this one.

We have two thorn trees growing side-by-side at the front of our property and, as the afternoon progressed, the fledgling awkwardly moved about in and between these two trees. When the sun started to set, Mr and Mrs Mostard hastily flew to-and-fro between the tree with their nest in it and the two trees at the front, trying to convince their little one to return to the shelter of the nest, but the fledgling would not go back. Eventually the parents gave up and flew off, leaving the little one in a part of a tree that I have known a cat to get to; at the end of one of the main branches which has less thorns and is thick enough for a cat to walk on.

[As I am typing this, something has occurred, but I need to continue this story before I can go into what it is.]

So, I made a (perhaps marginally immoral?) decision to do some minor intervention by driving the fledgling into higher branches that are thinner in diameter and denser with thorns. It only took my close proximity to the tree to do this and was over very quickly. I checked on the fledgling twice during the night and listened for any possible dog barking at one of the eight cats that live directly neighbouring our house and may be lurking. I was also concerned with how the fledgling would handle the temperature dropping in the very early morning, being away from shelter and out exposed on its own. The temperature eased to 8 degrees Celsius (about 46 degrees Fahrenheit).

At six o’clock in the morning, at first light, the fledgling was still in the same spot in the tree, and between that time and sunrise, which was at half-past six, the parents showed up. The little one was slow to move and seemed stiff, but had survived the night with all its terrors. I put food out in the bird feeder and the parents happily tucked into breakfast. I could relax knowing that all was well… then a hawk swooped in and gone was the fledgling. I. kid. you. not.

I have very mixed feelings about this event. Living in the suburbs, it is very rare to witness such an occurrence. I am excited to have seen a hawk… in my own yard… so close. And unlike when a domesticated cat kills a bird for sport, this is absolute nature at work… at its essence. On the other hand, I listened for two hours to the Sparrow parents continuously calling out for their missing only little one. I twice looked all around my garden and at the base of all our thorn trees in hopes that I may find the fledgling, but to no avail. After watching all their work to build their nest, and my not mowing my lawn for weeks so as not to disturb them… I feel invested… and it saddens me to think that in a flash of raptor wings it was taken away… or was it?

Now let me get back to that occurrence which I mentioned happened while typing out the end of the fourth paragraph. Mr and Mrs Mostard made a big ruckus, the kind they make when something excites them, like for example when they are being territorial and chasing off intruders. I stopped typing and took a look outside… and there is a fledgling... back in the tree. I. kid. you. not.


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Mr Mostart taken from almost directly below.

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Keep us posted on these babies @Gill-b!

 

[Gill-b]

Keep us posted on these babies @Gill-b!

It might be the same fledgling that somehow managed to evade the hawk and hunkered down for a few hours until it thought it safe to return? Mr and Mrs Mostart (definitely them) are again concentrating all their baby feeding efforts on just this one fledgling. I have enough uncertainty about this "new arrival" to be unable to state without a doubt that it is the same fledgling. The hawk attack happened so quickly that all I know is one minute the fledgling was there and the next it was gone.